The first game of golf is believed to have occurred in Scotland in the 15th century, while other reports have the game originating in Holland or China. Regardless of the exact origination of the game, tens of millions of people play golf each year at tens of thousands of different golf courses all over the world.
The game of golf is played on a golf course. The course is usually made up of 18 unique holes; however, smaller courses have nine holes. A round of golf is played when a player plays all 18 holes (or nine holes on the smaller courses). Each hole is comprised of an area to start or an area to hit a tee shot, which is when the ball is placed on a tee. The hole also has a fairway and a green, where the hole or cup is located. The goal of the game of golf is to play the entire round or, in some cases each hole, in fewer strokes than your opponent.
In order to reduce the number of strokes during a round of golf, players use various clubs to hit or strike the golf ball. In order to reduce the number of strokes, different clubs, i.e., woods, irons and putters are used at different locations on the course.
Depending on the hole, a player may use a driver or a wood for the first stroke. Next, a player may use an iron, which substitutes some distance for accuracy. Finally, once the player reaches the green, a putter is usually used to putt the ball into the cup. Whereas it may only take two or three shots to cover 400 to 500 yards to get to the green, it may then take two or three putts to actually put the ball in the hole.
Adding to the difficulty of putting the ball into the hole is the composition of the green. Greens are never level and are sloped at varying gradients at different locations on the green. For example, one part of the green may slope down to a water hazard and away from the hole, while another part of the green slopes from the edge of the green to the hole. Adding to the difficulty is the placement of the hole, which will vary from day to day.
The grass on the green is also cut extremely short, much shorter than in the fairway or rough. The green is also rolled often to compress the green even more making putting even more difficult. Further, depending on conditions of the green, putting on a dry green is more difficult than putting on a moist or wet green.
A device that has been useful for determining the speed of a putting green is the Stimpmeter, which is used to measure the green's coefficient of resistance. The Stimpmeter device releases a golf ball down a V-shaped groove at about a 20° slope such that the velocity of the golf ball is accurately known when it leaves the Stimpmeter device onto the green. The distance the golf ball then travels over the green is measured (in feet) and averaged for multiple locations on the particular putting green. The faster greens will return higher numbers. These numbers are commonly known as “Stimp”. The USGA recommends that slow greens have a Stimp of about 8.5 feet, medium greens have a reading of about 10.5 feet, and fast greens have a reading of about 12.5 feet. For professional tournaments, slow greens may have a Stimp of about 10.5 feet, medium greens a reading of about 11.5 feet, and fast greens a reading of about 12.5 feet. The Stimp on some of the fastest greens on the PGA tour may be 12 to 15.
Since each shot, whether using a wood, an iron or a putter, counts the same, it is extremely important for a player to reduce the number of putts to get the ball into the hole, once the green is reached. It is clear that one way to improve the score of one's golf game is by reducing the number of putts used in a round to put the ball in the hole once the ball is on the green. Repetition is the key to a successful putting stroke and by practicing one's putting stroke, a player can teach himself or herself to replicate the same putting stroke each time, thereby increasing the reliability that the golf ball will go the proper distance and location each time.
Then, once the distance is known and the break of the ball on the green is determined, the player can be sure that with enough practice, the putt will generally go where it is supposed to go. When the player takes into account additional factors, such as the Stimp for the green, the putting accuracy can be further improved.
Although there are a number of golf putting practice devices that allow a golfer to practice a golf putt and which return the golf ball to the golfer, they use moving parts to return the ball to the player each time. In order to simulate actual putting, they need to be placed at a location the same distance from the golfer that the hole would normally be located, and if the golfer misses the target, the ball may not be returned properly. Further, none of the existing golf putting practice devices calculate the distance the ball would travel on a real green based on the speed of the ball and taking into account the putting green's coefficient of resistance or Stimp.
To the extent that the repetition or practicing of the putting stroke can be accomplished in a game format, the practicing will be more enjoyable, allowing the golfer to practice for a longer period of time.
Accordingly, it would be a great advantage to use a putting practice device that indicates how far the golf ball will travel using a varying hypothetical Stimp value. In addition, it would be helpful if the practicing device could be used at a closer distance to the golfer so that a longer ball travel path was not necessary allowing one to practice putts of greater distance than available space allows, and the ball would always come back to the golfer.
It would also be advantageous to have a golf putting practice device that was battery operated without the need to be plugged into a wall outlet, and that had no moving parts (especially for the ball return) that could break down or improperly function. It would also be advantageous to have a device that could be turned on and off by using one's foot thereby reducing the strain that comes with bending down to turn the game on or off (or to change the various game play).
It would also be advantageous to have a golf putting practice device that could play various games for both entertainment as well as to make the repetitive practicing more enjoyable.